Results 2,341-2,360 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (20 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am aware of the matter raised by the Deputy. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has been in contact with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. I am expecting further contact before the end of year from the Ombudsman's office in relation to their remit. While responsibility for the amendment of legislation in relation to the Ombudsman for Children rests with the Department...

Written Answers — Family Resource Centres: Family Resource Centres (20 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: There are 107 family resource centres throughout the country funded by the Family Support Agency. The aim of the Family Resource Centres Programme is to combat disadvantage and improve the functioning of the family unit. The programme emphasises involving local communities in tackling the problems they face, and creating successful partnerships between voluntary and statutory agencies at...

Written Answers — Homeless Persons: Homeless Persons (20 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: Youth Homelessness has been identified as a priority for 2011. My Department met with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and service providers at the end of May, to assess and review the current demand for services, the progress made to date under the Youth Homelessness Strategy 2001 and the need to address any outstanding service deficits. Work will commence...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (20 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I appoint members to the Boards of the following Bodies: Body Family Support Agency National Educational Welfare Board Adoption Authority of Ireland The terms of office for Board members are determined by relevant legislation and are usually for a period of three or five years. Appointments are made when vacancies arise.

Written Answers — Adoption Services: Adoption Services (20 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department has concluded talks with the HSE on the issue of adoption files from Bessboro and the HSE has agreed to take responsibility for these files. Accordingly, this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (20 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the cost of translating reports for the year 2010. As my Department was formally established on 2 June 2011 no such expenditure was incurred in 2010.

Written Answers — Children in Care: Children in Care (21 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Office is advised by the HSE that the information on the number of children placed in relative care by social workers will issue to the Deputy today.

Written Answers — Preschool Services: Preschool Services (22 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme was introduced in January 2010 and provides a free preschool year to all eligible children in the year before commencing primary school. Almost every preschool service in the State is participating in the programme ensuring that it is available to children in all areas, and 63,000 children, or 94% of the eligible age cohort, availed of...

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (22 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The information requested by the Deputy in respect of my Department is set out below: Name Whole time equivalent Annual Salary Marion Mannion 1.0 €80,051 Jennifer Carroll Mac Neill 0.5 €40,025 William Lavelle 0.5 €40,025 All of the above appointments were made in line with the guidelines on Ministerial Appointments issued by the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public...

Health Service Staff (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Ryan report implementation plan committed to the recruitment of an additional 270 social workers. Some 200 of these new posts were in place by the end of 2010, in addition to the backfilling of other vacancies which occurred. An additional 60 social workers are due to be recruited by the HSE in 2011. These posts are at various stages in the recruitment process. Last week, in reviewing...

Health Service Staff (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: No, they are at various stages in the HSE recruitment processes. As the Deputy knows, the commitment is to have these social workers in place by the year's end. Other recruitments have been going on too. Up to 168 additional social workers new to the HSE were recruited up to the beginning of September 2011. This process is being managed by Gordon Jeyes, national director for children and...

Health Service Staff (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: No, the 200 figure remains for 2010. At the beginning of 2011, 168 additional social workers new to the HSE had been recruited. The 200 figure stands, but the other figure relates to people who are new to the HSE. The plan is for all social workers to be in place - the 200, the 60 and the backfilling of places - by the end of this year.

Child Welfare (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: In July, I launched the revised Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children. The guidelines deal with the recognition, reporting and management of child safety concerns. They emphasise the need to safeguard and protect children, that the safety and welfare of children are everyone's responsibility and that children will have safer lives where everyone is...

Child Welfare (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy said he supports the legislation to put Children First on a statutory basis. As I stated before, doing so is not simply about reporting but about inter-agency working. Just this morning, I attended the meetings of the local children's services committees. We see at county level that we need those who are working with children to work together. Inter-agency work is required to...

Child Welfare (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy knows the current financial position as well as I do. Like all Departments, mine will be part of the current expenditure review. A special management audit, led by a leading UK child protection expert, has commenced with a view to ensuring we will have in place appropriate systems to manage the need for a rapid response. We are examining the sorts of thresholds that should apply...

Ministerial Responsibilities (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am aware of the matter raised by the Deputy. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has been in contact with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. On 3 June 2011, responsibility for the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 was transferred to me as Minster for Children and Youth Affairs. I understand that under this Act the inclusion of the National Council for Special Education...

Ministerial Responsibilities (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I can only agree with Deputy Murphy on the vulnerability of the children and of their parents when trying to access a service. I fully understand this and appreciate the stresses and the difficulties. Deputy Murphy asked me to outline how the process for taking responsibility for this area might move forward and where the discussions are going. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has...

Ministerial Responsibilities (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I want to stress that at this point, a decision has not been taken. The Ombudsman for Children will return to me with her proposals after which discussions will take place with the Department for Education and Skills. I know that Department will have its own plans on how it sees the service developing. I must have those discussions with the Department as well. The Deputy made a relevant...

Child Abuse (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank Deputy McConalogue. In July 2011, I launched the revised Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children. The guidance deals with the recognition, reporting and management of child safety concerns. The revised guidance replaces the original version of Children First which was first published in 1999. The HSE, as I said in reply to the question from...

Child Abuse (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is quite the opposite. The Deputy's Government made no assessment of the situation and did no audit. In addition, it left the services in a state where it is unclear precisely what is happening around the country. The previous Government promised to introduce legislation by 2010 to put Children First on a statutory basis, but did not do so. Since coming into office, I have worked on...